Courageous
by FabulousMildred
Summary: Long, long ago, so long ago that even Zeus, King of the Gods was not yet born, Rhea, Mother of All birthed a son. But he was no god. As soon as Rhea lay eyes on her son, she knew he must be hid. And so The Fates took the boy, sealing him to grow slowly, encased in a golden tomb until one day he would fulfill his destiny. And written on his tomb was a single word. Courageous.


_Long, long ago, so long ago that even Zeus, King of the Gods was not yet born, Rhea, Mother of All birthed a son._

_But he was no god._

_As soon as Rhea lay eyes on her son, she knew he must be hid. And so The Fates took the boy, sealing him to grow slowly, encased in a golden tomb until one day he would fulfill his destiny._

_And written on his tomb was a single word._

_Courageous._

_One._

Melody Brooks watched the rain hit the walls of Cabin 6. Her half brothers and sisters worked around her, the scratch of pencils and the rustle of paper the only noises around besides the click of Annabeth''s laptop keys.

Melody sighed softly and went back to her book on swordplay. Truthfully she preferred a bow and arrow to a sword, but as her cabin was warring with Apollo's children, she thought it wise to keep that to herself. She glanced outside the window again.

This was the second week straight of rain. Each day that the sun didn't shine, Chiron's face grew darker and darker and the mutterings against Poseidon grew louder. Melody kept her mouth shut, and her thoughts to herself. If the Sea God wanted to make it rain for two weeks, it wasn't any of her business. Her elbow slipped off the table and she jerked.

"Melody, watch it!" Hayden, her half brother cried. Too late. Melody watched in horror as a cup of coffee spilled all over the plans for a monument on Half Blood Hill. Melody cringed.

"Sorry! I am so so-"

"Gods, Melody! Just leave! I don't know why Mom even claimed you, it's not like you're smart or even pretty!" Hayden bellowed. Behind him on her bunk, Annabeth looked up sharply. She made eye contact with Melody and shook her head. _It's not worth it, _Her eyes seemed to say. Hayden was a hot headed jerk most off the time.

Melody glared at Hayden, then held her tongue. Sometimes the best thing to do was just walk it off. They would apologize, they always did when they insulted her.

Just because she wasn't interested in designing buildings and writing essay's didn't mean she wasn't smart. Clumsy, yes, but not stupid. Melody knew for a fact Hayden only got into building design because he could barely read.

Melody wasn't dyslexic, and that made her different.

While her brothers and sister struggled to read a chapter in a book, Melody fairly devoured the pages. She loved reading. It was her escape from reality.

When she was younger she used to dream and read of being taken away to a far away place, and learning that she had magical powers and was going to save the world. Then one night a hell hound showed up at a family BBQ and permanently scarred her face and leg. The next day Chiron had shown up at her house, explained to Melody and her father that she was a demigod, and then whisked her away to CHB.

And she'd been here ever since. Her dad had never asked her to come home. Now she was different from even her new brothers and

Melody jerked her hoodie over her head and walked slowly through the trees. The nymphs were gone, hiding in the cold and dismal weather.

Melody tried not to cry.

And then suddenly a white light was all around her, and Melody Brooks vanished.

/?/

Jace Peterson skated along the wet sidewalk as rain poured down around him. He flipped his board into the air at the street curb and waited for the pedestrian crossing light.

He'd just got done with a week long visit with his mother. Now he was off to Camp for the next few months, and he had to catch the bus. He crossed the street and waited at the bus stop.

It was raining heavily, and Jace wished for an umbrella. The small shelter wasn't much.

He huddled under his sweatshirt and grimaced. Someone must have pissed off Poseidon, because the rain hadn't stopped for a couple of weeks.

He couldn't help but be worried. If the gods were mad, there was no telling what would happen. The last thing he needed was another thing to worry about. His mom was sick, and he didn't know what to do.

He couldn't stay out of Camp to help her. That would only put both her and Jace in danger. Monsters were on the rise again, and the sooner he got to Camp the safer he and his mom would be.

It was raining harder now. Jace moved his bag farther into the shelter.

Something clanged behind him.

Jace drew his sword and turned around.

He caught a glimpse of a face just as a white light surrounded him, and something hit him on the back of the head.

/?/

The Demeter Cabin was dreary and listless.

Cathrine "Cat" Chen lay face down on her bunk bed. Her black hair hung off the end of the bunk.

She was completely and utterly bored. All of the things she normally did were off limits because of the rain. The entire cabin was sitting around the cabin. Plants were dying because of the excess water, and it was making the children of Demeter sick.

The cabin counselor Katie Gardner was most affected. She lay on her bunk pale and listless, only moving to tug her blanket higher on her shoulders.

Cat felt slightly nauseous but nothing too bad. She wanted to be outside in the fields, with the sun shining and the warm earth under her feet. But she wouldn't be able to do that for several more months.

There was a pounding at the cabin door. No one moved to answer it, and eventually Cat got off her bed and yanked the door open.

"Hey, Cat, Chiron says it's your turn for bathroom duty," A small Hermes boy said nervously. Cat couldn't remember his name in her nauseas haze.

"Okay," Cat said. She tugged her boots on and a jacket and followed the boy out. He gave her an umbrella to use.

Cat stumbled through the mud to the large wooden faculty building. Normally bathroom duty meant cleaning the girl's room, restocking toilet paper and towels, and making sure the laundry from the showers got put in the hampers for the harpies.

Cat collapsed on the waiting bench outside the girls showers. The entire building seemed deserted. Cat gripped her stomach, gagging a little. Being outside seemed to make her nausea worse.

Something flashed in the corner of her eye and she turned slowly to look at it. The door to the supply closet was closed, but the crack under the door was emitting a soft glow.

Normally Cat would never have opened the door. Later she would think that her mind must have been addled to even think about it. But she stood and opened the door.

And then she was gone, white light surrounding her and the supply closet went back to normal.


End file.
